Colorado University Athletics
Colorado, Texas A&M Quotes
March 04, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik
GENERAL?“They had an 11-2 run in the first four minutes of the second half. We can't do that, but we fought back. We had some open looks, couldn't make them, and we went 8-of-15 from the foul line. We've put ourselves in positions to win ball games 11 times this year. We don't finish at the rim. We're losing to teams that are going to be in the NCAA Tournament, so what's the difference? You need to lift every other day to get stronger so we can finish plays around the rim and contest position defensively. There were a lot of good thing we did; ten turnovers, 17 assists, and 10 steals, but we missed foul shots and took possessions off defensively. We lost [B.J.] Holmes and [Josh] Carter three or four times. It all adds up over the course of a game. We take possessions off mentally and we have very little margin for error.”
ON TOBY VEAL?“Toby academically missed some classes and I was hard on him, but he has really done a great job lately. There were some times he wasn't allowed at practice because he had to spend some time with our tutors. He is a young man who has the athleticism to have an impact on a game. He is a young player that is now making the positive adjustment to college. You can see that as he gets stronger and continues to develop his skill, he can have a positive impact on the game. He is a work in progress and a part of our future in a big way.”
ON JERMYL JACKSON-WILSON?“It wasn't one of his better games, but one game shouldn't reflect the positive impact he has had on this basketball program throughout his career. Not just on the court, but off the court as well. He does a lot of wonderful work volunteering for charities. He is working on his second degree and he is very well spoken. He might be undersized but his heart is big.”
ON NATE TOMLINSON?“He was cleared by doctors a couple days ago and went through practice on Monday and Tuesday. Health wise he is fine. Now he is understanding and taking care of the ball better, making better decisions. Seven assists and one turnover for a freshman point guard is good stuff and something to build on.”
ON CHALLENGING THE TEAM?“I challenge them. I think they were feeling sorry for themselves a little bit and you can't do that, no one will feel sorry for you.”
ON THE SEASON?“It's been really hard. I want to win for the University of Colorado, for the fans who have been loyal and supportive, for the city and the state. It's not about me, it is about everybody. I know we are on the right track, and I know this is how we have to do it. We are not going to compromise what the school stands for, we just have to stay the course, but it is tough. I want to win so bad and the players do too. They need to get stronger and we need more depth.”
ON NOT PLAYING IN THE POST-SEASON?“Prior to last year, I think 12 out of the last 13 years I had been in post-season play whether it be NBA playoffs, the NCAA Tournament or the NIT. I can't even watch TV because I don't want to hear about March Madness. It is going to be March recruiting for me. ?Bracketology' to me is like proctology.”
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon
GENERAL ?“We were really bad the first half and [Cory] Higgins did a really good job at top of that zone. We put in a new offense and it didn't work and Higgins was just really good. We had 16 turnovers and gave up 24 points from those turnovers. [At half] we just talked about taking care of the ball and getting back to what we do. I thought we really guarded well in the second half and made some shots late on. We played with poise and we executed. We were down eight at that timeout so we changed up and had a small line up and changed the way we were playing. B.J. [Holmes] hit some big shots for us which he has done all year and we just figured out a way to win and we have done that lately.”
ON COMING INTO COLORADO?“I think we were nervous, this was a huge game we were 3-7 and no one cared, now we are 8-7 and we have a chance. I think we were a little nervous starting the game and I had tell them “okay guys let's just play the way we know we are capable of playing” and we did that and a lot of guys stepped up and made a lot of great plays. Defensively we did well not giving up any backdoors, we gave up some open threes but we played well.”
ON SECOND HALF PLAY?“I went small and I said we were too stagnant, so we started running motion and we started being aggressive and started pressing. We had to get turnovers and get some press since Colorado is a very good press offense team. We got one turnover against the press and we hit two shots. B.J. [Holmes] hit a wide open three and then we got another one on a four point play and it really changed the game. It went from 8 to 1 like that and we were right back in the game. I just thought our defense and our execution was really good down the stretch.”
ON WIN AGAINST COLORADO?“It gives us confidence. We have won five in a row and three of them on the road so it has given us confidence. Colorado has won three senior nights in a row so we knew it was going to be a tough game here. It just gives us confidence. We haven't played great three of the last four games that we have won, but we have played well enough to win and we figured it out and that's a sign of a good team.”
ON COLORADO?“We knew they were going to play well and we know they are extremely well coached. [Casey] Crawford hurt us tonight. He hit some big shots for them. They are harder to guard when they are hitting threes. Our big guys weren't guarding anyone early but then they started to later as the game went on. We knew what we were getting into. This team [Colorado] is a year away or being good. They will win these close games next year, you just have to keep playing.”
Colorado Players
Jermyl Jackson-Wilson, Senior, Forward
ON LAST HOME GAME?“My teammates were playing much better than I was. Obviously I had the most turnovers on the team. No one else had more than one turnover but me. I don't mind sitting down there [on the bench] if my teammates are doing better. They were doing much better than I was. It was tough, but they were fighting, so you can't be mad.”
“I'm obviously sad that we lost. I'm upset with myself. I didn't show up for the game. I'm sad, upset, frustrated at myself. My teammates did their job, and I didn't do mine.”
ON TOBY VEAL'S PLAY?“Yeah, Toby has improved all year. Sometimes when you get the opportunity to get out there, you have to be ready. You may have only three minutes to prove yourself, and in those three minutes you may not be as ready as you think you are. But tonight he proved that he can play in the Big 12. He did a really good job for us. We've seen him in practice; he does things in practice well.”
ON PRESSING FOR LAST HOME GAME?“I didn't feel like it, but numbers don't lie, so I must have been.”
ON BROTHER'S STORY?“He didn't exactly say it to me, but I was with him when the accident happened. He got hit by a bottle rocket on the Fourth of July when we were walking back to our house. I didn't remember him yelling out when we were walking back that his career is over, but he wanted to be a basketball player; he wanted to play basketball and go to college. Everything he tried to do for a little bit, but it wasn't the same for him. He couldn't do the things he did before. I hear that in my head often, and think about that; think about how good my brother could have been. But I try to do as well as I think he would have done. I believe he was 12. [I was] 10.”
ON SENIOR YEAR?“Keep working hard. I know everything may not pay off for you individually, but us working hard this year, myself working hard this year might pay off for the
Cory Higgins, Sophomore, Guard
ON TEXAS A&M'S SECOND HALF RUN?“Not finding shooters in transition, and not finding shooters period. Unlike the first half, where they were getting one shot and done, we were getting one shot and done [in the second half]. They tried to speed the game up a little bit with their pressure, and switching everything on the defensive end so they wouldn't have any mismatches.”
ON COMMON LOSING PATTERN?“I would think its probably mental toughness. I didn't doubt we were going to pull it out. We had one common goal: to send this man [Jermyl Jackson-Wilson] out with a victory, and get some satisfaction out of the season. That's a big disappointment that we weren't able to do that.”
ON FUTURE OF TEAM?“It says, like coach said out there, that better days are on their way. We can only go up from here, obviously. And I think people seeing this year should be encouraged, not discouraged. So, I don't know, expect big things from us.”
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